WE gave an account in yesterday's issue of the nine conferences under the control of the National Conference of Education which will meet on December 28, the object being the investigation of uniformity in educational methods. These conferences, being composed of instructors from various schools and colleges will have a great opportunity to discuss the methods of instruction which, while the capacity of our colleges is already being severely tested, are attracting the attention of all scholars. These conferences will discuss the subjects required for admission to college and the best methods under which they should be studied.

Methods of instruction are far from being the same in schools of this country and the success or the failure of a student in passing an admission examination is due greatly to the way in which he is taught. It is difficult to decide upon any one system of instruction; students are perpetually being experimented on to find the best, and some teachers, partly by their personality, will succeed where others will fail. Still the method of instruction in some of our schools is woefully poor and it can be improved, though with difficulty fixed, for each year will bring a new improvement. The amount of time given to a study is another question which calls for discussion. It is certain that some studies receive more than is necessary, often with a corresponding insufficiency given other studies; but to a certain extent this question hangs upon the first. For, while certain subjects are essentially more important and require a greater proportion of time, if the method of instruction be effective the requisite work can be done in a satisfactory time. Again, in the consideration of the best methods of testing pupils' attainments in studies these conferences will meet with a perplexing and unsettled question. It is demanding consideration no less in other colleges than in our own, but we have considered it so long here that a satisfactory agreement appears difficult. Undoubtedly to most of those who compose the conferences the conservative method of examinations seems the best and most uniform. Generally speaking the minds of pupils are so constituted that some car successfully show their proficiency by one method when others cannot. In a written examination, for example, the man with a certain ground to cover in a certain time may know instinctive y what to write and what not to write, where another, no less proficient, cannot do himself justice. Written examinations have their disadvantages and it is not necessary to discuss them further; but it will be difficult to decide upon a method of testing a student's knowledge which shall be effectively serviceable to all, for this question affects more particularly the idiosyncrasy of each student.

These are some of the questions which the conferences are called upon to discuss, and it is certain that as the representatives are taken from all parts of the country the discussion will be broad a d based on varied experience. The result will be looked forward to with considerable interest.